UK bans support for Iran's IRGC

[Twiglets1]

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will be designated a threat to national security.

Mahmood will use new government powers to ban support for the group, which has been linked to death threats, attacks and intimidation in the UK.

In a written statement to Parliament, she set out how support for the IRGC, from expressing a positive opinion to assisting them, will now be an offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Two other groups are also being proscribed, the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right (IMCR), and the volunteer corps of Russia's GRU (foreign military intelligence agency).

New powers will be given to police and intelligence agencies to tackle espionage, foreign interference, sabotage and physical attacks from these groups.

Iran's IRGC is believed to have directed seven attacks at UK locations linked to Jewish and Israeli communities.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz0jkj7e87go

I think this is the point which @dwordlehasn’t answered. Proscription happens under specific circumstances not just because we don’t like someone’s actions abroad. There’s some conflation of the two on this thread.

I’m sure they will see it as further proof that the West is corrupt and needs to be re-educated.

The BBC report that Craig Foreman has been informed that his 10 year sentence is now being extended by two years, for talking to the media from his cell in Tehran's Evin prison.

Joe Bennett, Lindsay Foreman's son and a spokesperson for the family said that, despite requests, his father "was allowed no lawyer, no translator and no opportunity to defend himself".

"We didn't think we could be any more shocked at their appalling treatment, but in this case we are absolutely flabbergasted," he added.

Last week, a US-based human rights group, HRANA, said it had received information that Craig Foreman had lost about 16kg (35lb) and Lindsay Foreman was suffering from dizziness and body tremors.

Their family now says that a letter written to them asking them to end their hunger strike had not been delivered, nor had medication and other basic supplies.

The Foreign Office has advised against all travel to Iran since 2022, saying that people can be detained there for simply for having a British passport or connections to the UK.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gygp4pk31o

Some deliberate confusion of the facts I think with the suggestion that "By the time this is all over it won't be safe to travel to any where if you're British or American".

Life is full of risk. You could get bitten by a snake and die, get cancer, drown in the sea....all these pose more of a risk than being kidnapped and imprisoned in Iran

If you want to travel to Iran that’s your personal choice, it’s separate to proscribing the IRGC.

This is true but we can't control things like getting cancer.

What we can control is not visiting a country that the Foreign Office has advised against travelling to since 2022 on the grounds that it is unsafe.

As Eastern says, that's a separate issue anyway to proscribing the IRGC. They are a terrorist organisation who are dangerous in the UK as well as in Iran.

The government had advised against travel to Iran since at least 2019. This is barely a random accident.

There are parts of Turkey that your advised not to visit, Himalayas have parts your advised not to visit.....there are so many troubled parts of the world but if we don't visit they will never change.

Travel and business breaks down barriers and builds bridges.

I think that there needs to be repercussions for events but wouldn't be using bombs as diplomacy or banning organisations if it further isolates our position.

If you disagree with the government's position on the IRGC you can take it up with them @dwordle though it would be pointless.

Have the Turkish regime funded terrorism against the UK?

There are UK proscribed groups in Turkey.

Turkiye Halk Kurtulus Partisi-Cephesi (THKP-C) is also known as the Peoples’ Liberation Party/Front of Turkey, THKP-C Acilciler and the Hasty Ones – proscribed June 2014 THKP-C is a left-wing organisation formed in 1994. The group grew out of the Turkish extreme left Revolutionary Youth Movements which formed in the 1960s and 70s.

Not Turkish gov connected, and nor have they done terror attacks in the UK so far as I am aware.

Source :

Full list of terror groups banned in the UK including Hamas and ISIS | News UK | Metro News

Does a group need to do a terror attack in the UK to be proscribed ?

Thankfully, no. But if they do, they should definitely be proscribed.

In recent times, Iran has been negotiating with the US and while negotiating the US has attacked Iran, as has Israel. Negotiations still underway after many, many deaths. Many commentators have spoken out about US/Israel actions. But the IRGC is part of the Iran military and Iran has said that it only acts on defence of Iran, that Iran does not attack other countries and that the IRGC is not a threat to the UK and doesn't carry out terrorist activities and many Iranians living in the UK, living in peace, have said this too - but - I take it that no one is allowed to say that the US or Israel shouldn't be attacking Iran now because it is a grey area and they could be seen as giving indirect support, is that right? Perhaps some clarity on this point would be useful.

It feels like this is a precursor to wwIII, to be honest.

Firstly, people are still allowed to say that the US or Israel shouldn't be attacking Iran. That is personal opinion. What they aren't allowed to do is support the IRGC because they are a terrorist organisation.

I think you are believing what Iran/the IRGC say too much.

Iran does attack other countries. They have attacked Kuwait for example and caused damage to a water desalination plant there on more than one occasion, which could be a war crime. They have attacked other countries in the Gulf too that have US bases.

They also fund Hamas who are an Iran proxy. Hamas attacked Israel on 7/10/23 - a horrific event that triggered the Gaza war.

Also, just because Iran say the IRGC is not a threat to the UK and doesn't carry out terrorist activities, that doesn't make it the truth.

From the BBC:

Iran's IRGC is believed to have directed seven attacks at UK locations linked to Jewish and Israeli communities, including the antisemitic arson attack on four Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green on March 23, which the IMCR publicly claimed responsibility for.

MI5 identified at least 20 potentially lethal Iranian-backed plots against people in the UK in the last year, and the IRGC is central to the Iranian state's operations, which particularly targets the Jewish community and Iranian dissidents.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz0jkj7e87go

I just googled the Foremans and apparently they were doing a road trip as part of a life project and they interviewed 360 people about their views on quality of life in Iran, which is why they were arrested.

Is the British embassy in talks with Iran? Surely some evidence could be given that they were not spying, and instead doing a life project?

I think that when travelling you do have to be aware of risks. It would have been wiser for them to go as part of an organised group. This isn't just Iran, it is unsafe to do road trips in many, many areas of the world. Some areas I would go alone to. Some areas i would definitely go as part of an organised group with people who understand local culture.

All I know about the Foremans is what I have Googled also.

Agree that it's not just Iran that is a potentially unsafe country to visit. It's still true to say that the Foreign Office has advised against all travel to Iran for a few years now.

Well they kind of asked for it didn't they really, it's unfortunate but remember it's not like the UK. North Korea or Russia you would be facing the same treatment. In America they will probably deport you now.

I don't agree with it but when you travel you have to tread lightly

I am not a fan of proscription. To me it is an attack on free speech, but It's not something I am passionate about. If the government want to proscribe, hey ho, up to them.

However, to quote your bit here : "many Iranians living in the UK, living in peace, have said this too...". I suppose that comes down to how one defines " living in peace". For authoritarian governments, such as Iran has, they will define that as "shut your mouth and do not say anything bad". And really, when it comes to granting asylum to protect dissidents, then that should be taken seriously. And of the plots reported by Iran in the UK, most have been against dissidents ( the ones I am aware of).

For that alone, proscription get's the thumbs up from me. Depending of course, on how it is worded.

But do I think the IRGC is about to bomb UK train stations etc ? No. And yes, people will say "what about the ambulances" etc. And I say is that really the IRGC ?

But, as I posted above, I have not seen the Act yet. So I don't know what evidence the UK government is presenting.

Your reply is incredilbly patronising. Talking about foreign policy and diplomacy should not be about "belief". I didn't say anything about belief.

Firstly, people are still allowed to say that the US or Israel shouldn't be attacking Iran. That is personal opinion. What they aren't allowed to do is support the IRGC because they are a terrorist organisation.

This does not make sense.

Unless you are saying that someone who expressed support for IRGC would simply be seen as expressing "personal opinion"? Because surely that has now been forbidden now?
It is a grey area, what we can and can't say that the government should give clarify I think.

For this and all foreign policy, in fact. If we criticise domestic policy this is okay, but any criticism of foreign policy is not okay?

The attacks such as those in GG were initially, and for quite a long time, reported as being done by Iranians, but not by Iran state. So the media position changed at some point.

By living in peace I mean normal Iranians, living and working in the UK - not terrorists. There were a large number involved in peaceful protests in London, against attacks on Iran, not anti any culture religion or country, who were interviewed by the press.

I wasn't saying anything about which countries are more or less controlling about what people say.

The UK has strong diplomatic links with Israael and the US, and very patchy diplomatic links with Iran (though there was hope that this would change recently) so it isn't a huge shock if there were advice against travel there (I haven't checked and I thought that in organised groups it was still fine, but as I say I haven't checked).

Why did the Foremans ignore the advice in the most dangerous way possible?

Jonathan Hall KC is the UK government's independent reviewer of terrorism laws. He told Iran International, "There’s been a lot of pressure for some time to do something about the activities of the Revolutionary Guard Corps"

Hall said the primary aim of the new framework is to deter people in Britain from accepting money to conduct surveillance, violence or other activities on behalf of the IRGC.

"We know that the way that the Iranian regime operates in the UK is usually through proxies," he said. "These are individuals obviously willing to take money to carry out certain conduct."

He said the legislation could apply to someone paid to conduct reconnaissance outside the home of a television journalist, follow and stab an Iranian dissident or set fire to a synagogue.

A person could face prosecution if they knew, or should reasonably have known, that their conduct was likely to assist the IRGC.

"It's about credibly saying to people who might take £500, £1,000 or whatever to do that sort of thing: you are at risk of committing a National Security Act offence," Hall said.

"The desire is that people should be deterred. And, of course, if they do carry out that sort of proxy activity, they will then go to prison for a long time and be convicted under an exceptionally serious piece of legislation."

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202607158840

I am not familiar with the Foremans thought process.

FCDO advises against all travel to Iran

FCDO advises against all travel to Iran. If you are a British national already in Iran, either resident or visitor, carefully consider your presence there and the risks you take by staying.
British and British-Iranian dual nationals are at significant risk of arrest, questioning or detention. Having a British passport or connections to the UK can be reason enough for the Iranian authorities to detain you.

www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/iran

Quote : "There were a large number involved in peaceful protests in London, against attacks on Iran, not anti any culture religion or country, who were interviewed by the press."

Yup. People can protest as they like. And I am sure the Iranian Government were very happy to see folk protesting against the strikes. However, I bet they are not happy at Iranians in the UK organizing protests against the Iranian Government. And it's when it comes to their protection that I am ok with proscription. If that is the way the Act is worded.

And it is Iranian dissidents in the UK who the Iranian Government were making plans "to deal with". According to UK information.

The same way the Saudi Government "dealt with" Jamal Khashoggi.

Would you agree that there are Iranians in the UK that the Iranian government would prefer be silent ?